Hindsight
by fangiosfriend
Summary: Why was Han so protective of Leia during the evacuation of Hoth? This story explores possible gaps leading up to their first kiss.
1. Chapter 1

**An epilogue to Second Kiss is still in the making. But in the meantime…**

**Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful reviews and feedback that keep me motivated and tapping away.**

* * *

When she thought back, Leia struggled to remember the moment she almost died. But ironically, hindsight also made things clearer.

A near death experience was such a momentous event, you'd think every second would be ingrained in minute detail. But it wasn't. It was a hazy jumble of adrenalin, frozen pictures and heightened emotions. Considering everything she had endured at the hand of The Empire, meeting her maker in a mundane access passage, deep within the bowels of the rebel base on Hoth, certainly wasn't where she envisioned her end to be.

It happened so quickly.

Flakes of snow and small chips of ice were always dropping at inconvenient times onto rebel alliance heads from the ceiling. Even in the command room. It was to be expected in such a high traffic area with snowspeeders and service vehicles constantly on the move above. Their hurried relocation to Hoth with the Empire hot on their tails didn't exactly allow time for luxury. Leia had learned to ignore it like everyone else.

As she strode through the winding passageway on her way to tactical, Leia's mind, as usual was on other things. She'd just had another run in with Captain Solo. The man was insufferable. If she could just get him to officially sign up, then she'd have the very great pleasure of stripping him of his rank, assigning him fresher duty and finally winning an argument for once. The conundrum was, the Alliance needed him. And he knew it. Dammit.

Still muttering under her breath, Leia almost overlooked a slight shudder that preceded a loud crack, before a veil of white powder dusted uncomfortably down the back of her snowsuit. Brushing it off as simply the result of heavy machinery traveling overhead she kept striding through the winding corridor. But after only a few more steps, an ominous, dull roar followed by severe quaking made her stop short in her tracks. Suddenly, misshapen bricks of ice haphazardly plunged down, striking her back and shoulders, making vision virtually impossible. There was nowhere to run.

It fell relentlessly - a sea of razor-sharp shards, snow and boulders that hurtled down with an incessantly ruthless momentum.

There wasn't time to scream. All her energy was channelled towards the primal need of protecting her head and finding shelter from the onslaught, instinctively throwing her arms up and around herself, stumbling towards and curling her body up against the meagre protection of a cavity provided by a large service pipe that jutted out from the wall. The noise and movement was interminable as Leia huddled against the sanctuary of cold metal.

For a second, a tiny flash of calm within the terror, Leia thought of her loved ones. There weren't many left. But she still felt the resounding void of their loss nonetheless. Her mind conjured up their dear faces; Luke's boyish energy and their puzzling bond, Chewie's gruff affection, General Reeikan and Mon Motha's stoic and parental care….and Han….. what about Han? Now she'd never know.

As the ice continued to hail down with unforgiving abandon around her, Leia stifled a sob and closed her eyes tightly as the roar became a muffled drone.

"I'm sorry. So sorry…Han."

There was another long and terrifying crack and a huge wave of white plummeted towards her. The entire world had splintered open.

Then everything went black.

* * *

"Come on Gorgeous. Open those big brown eyes for me."

Something was gliding softly around the curve of her cheek as a coaxing words washed over her. The voice was close and it sounded familiar but the tone was one she hadn't heard before. Demanding, anxious but tender.

Was she dreaming? Leia tried to turn her head and let out a quiet moan.

"That's my girl."

Wearily, Leia opened her eyes to slits.

Han's familiar, albeit slightly fuzzy face gazed back.

Han? What was Han doing here? He should be stationed at the east entrance, finishing up preparations for a scouting mission. She'd checked in and bickered with him this morning. Come to think of it, why was she so cold? And lying down? She opened her eyes a bit further and blinked, focusing on his face and the hand that still gently stroked her cheek.

"Hey. Hey there you are. You sure know how to get a guy's attention. Usually you just yell at me."

With his face partially lit by a small lantern half buried and propped up near the side of her head, Han waggled his eyebrows for effect and was obviously waiting for her lob a retort back, but her head was pounding. When she offered no reply he frowned.

"Can you move? Take it slowly."

Thanks gods she dressed warmly this morning. Snow and chunks of ice were blanketing her. As Han watched her closely, Leia tentatively moved her limbs one by one, feeling awkward and stiff. It was disconcerting how his eyes hadn't left hers since she opened them.

"My head hurts."

Han smiled nervously and moved his hand from her cheek, hovering it tentatively across her forehead. "You have a bump the size of a baby bantha on your temple. Can you sit up?"

Leia tried to hoist herself up but the effort made her arms shake violently and she lay back down. She'd never felt so weak and disoriented.

"Okay. Good idea Honey. Have little rest first."

"I'm not your Honey."

"That's what you think." He threw her smirk but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

Leia made a half-hearted attempt to roll her eyes but it only succeeded in making her nauseatingly giddy. The fact that Han was lying so close, almost his entire body pressed up against hers, one arm wrapped around the back of her shoulders didn't help. It was comforting but also perturbing – being with him like this.

Han was never comforting. He was more like a highly antagonistic, insubordinate nerf-herder with a dollop of heavy sarcasm on the side. To hide her confusion, she closed her eyes again, and that was when the questions flooded in.

"What are you doing here? Where am I? What happened?"

"Never mind all the where's and whatnots. Let's get you out of here and warm and toasty first."

Her hackles instantly rising up, Leia opened her eyes again and pinned them to Han's.

"What HAPPENED?"

Han sighed and scrubbed his face. "There was a cave in. You were its number one target. And before you ask, we're looking for others now."

"What others? A cave-in? But how - "

" – Sweetheart I'm happy to do the royal interrogation thing later –

" But - "

"- But nothing. Right now I'm more concerned getting you straight to medical."

His brusqueness was more annoyingly dismissive than usual.

"Fine! Don't tell me then!" she exploded.

For the first time, Han produced a real smile. His eyes lighting up with relief. Keeping them firmly upon hers, Han inclined his head back slightly towards what seemed a dark hole.

"She's awake and in fighting princess form boys. I'll have her out in minute. Just be ready."

A youthful voice, thick with barely disguised unease, echoed back. "Yes sir."

Leia released a much-needed huff since she regained consciousness. That was it. She wanted answers!

"Ready for what? What's - ?"

Leia squeaked in surprise as Han quickly pressed two warm fingers up and against her lips. Dark eyes narrowed and piercing. Challenging her to continue. When her face flared up in anger he pressed them once again in warning.

"Shh. Just switch off and let someone take care of you for once. Okay?"

While his actions were bold and almost bullying, he had never sounded so tender and poised. So… artlessly sexy.

When she obligingly shut up, hypnotised by this unfamiliar Han, he slowly took his tantalising fingers away, reverently gliding them over her pouting bottom lip.

He leaned in, his lips slanting agonizingly close to hers, warm breath caressing her chilled face as his eyes flicked down to her lips and then back up. Leia swallowed roughly, her eyes widening.

He smiled again. This time in amusement and, careful not to go near her injury, before she even had a chance to register it, gently and affectionately kissed her forehead. Chuckling slightly at her gaping, he manoeuvred his other arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

"Come on. Up and at em' Sweetheart. "

Leia let out the breath she'd been holding.

"Quit man-handling me, will you? I'm fine."

She wasn't fine, but snapping at Han was a pathetic attempt to recover her shaky composure. He merely curled up a lip and punctuated her remark with a flippant snort.

"If you say so. But believe me Darling, you'll know when I'm man-handling you. But I'm not in the mood now." He feigned a double take and cocked an eyebrow, " - unless _you _are of course."

Resisting her Han-jerk compulsion to automatically fire back, Leia paused and for the first time since she woke up, focused on solely on him.

Interesting. In typical Han style, he was letting rip his usual easy-going levity with a trademark smirk and careless flirtation. But all this time it had felt forced and his slightly shallow breaths and occasional licking of dry lips called his bluff. Something was very, very wrong.

" Han – "

"Can it Princess. You just had half the base fall down on you. By some miracle you're still in one piece. Now, put your arms around my neck."

This was an order, not a request, so Leia lifted her heavy limbs and settled them over his shoulders as his wrapped his more securely around her waist.

"There you go. Piece of cake."

While she had suspected it, it wasn't until she dizzily sat up and looked around, that Leia confirmed they were utterly alone. Just her, Han and a whole heap of dull white snow. Except for this small tomb-like air pocket, its top making them crouch their heads, they were surrounded by snow and ice. It reminded her of hiding in cupboards and under the bed when she was a child. The world shut away. Her senses honed in the darkness.

Her breath and Han's was only sound that she could hear. As the claustrophobia settled around her in the dim light of the flickering lamp, dread crept up and settled deep inside her chest. Pulling back slightly, she watched as Han's eyes swung to hers. In the stillness she watched him read her feelings and the exact moment he stopped fighting to hide the truth.

With an arm still tucked around her, he lifted one of her hands and laced his fingers through hers, attempting an earnest smile. Leia braced herself, but oddly, it was reassuring that it was Han who was here and the one about to break the news. He hesitated, so Leia, doing what she did best, provided a diplomatic opening.

"It's bad isn't?"

Instead of immediately responding, he let go of her hand and briefly traced the sensitive skin along her jaw line, breathing softly and calmly. Centring himself. Then determined eyes snapped back to hers. The instinct to fight had returned. A man with mission.

"Not if I have anything to do with it Princess."

* * *

**TBC….**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to all who have reviewed or followed. This is why Chapter 2 has gone up so quickly! (Well, that and I've been sick off work for 3 days) This came out more humorous than I originally intended. But that's Han's POV for you! **

Gee these things stank. Like an unwashed armpit. And they detonated an unlimited supply of toxic fluid when they weren't happy. Which was permanently.

With frozen fingers, Han wrestled with his Tauntaun's bridle and dodged another hot spray of saliva directed towards his face. Whoever thought of domesticating the local wildlife should have had their head read.

"Hey! Cool it, will you? I've had a long day," he snapped.

The walking armpit grunted again as twinjets of damp white steam shot out of large nostrils and across his forehead, blowing his hair backwards.

"Yuck!"

Wiping his brow clean, Han warily eyed his tetchy patrol mount as it strategically scanned him for another target. Deciding to change tack, he reached up and carefully petted the matted fur curling up its ridiculously thick neck. Maybe a bit of sweet-talking?

"Easy girl."

Was a girl? It had long eyelashes.

He deliberately dropped his voice an octave lower and the Tauntaun paused its attack.

"Yeah. That's it. You adorable, smelly…. thing."

It blinked twice and slowly calmed. Huge eyes framed by lethal looking horns swung down to his. Han got the hint and kept stroking, smiling in amusement. Who'd have thought a reptomammal would be next on the list for a special Solo treatment?

"There ya go. See? I'm not so bad am I? Think I'll call you Betty."

The top of Betty's leathery lip crooked back slightly, displaying a yellow tooth and she snorted cynically. She reminded him of someone.

After a final rub around her ears, Han hefted his pack up and over the saddle, hooking it onto the pommel. He was heavily supplied. It was only a two-day scouting trip and the climate and terrain was merciless but Han was desperate for anything to break the never-ending tedium of routine.

If only it were as simple as rubbing Leia's ears to get her calm down, he reflected, he'd be sitting pretty. That woman was a right royal pain in his butt.

She was such a stickler for rules and regulations, constantly bailing him up and waving a stupid clipboard in front of his face. With only an ancient ion cannon and wonky shield generator as defence, they could all be obliterated by the Empire any day now, so who cared about signing stuff?

It was hard to remember a single conversation when words weren't hurled like missiles across the room at each other. Part of him conceded he liked bugging her. It gave her cheeks a healthy glow and she always left him chuckling with a parting quip. They were good at it, even when it drove him nuts.

Not 5 minutes ago, they'd had another spat. Well, more of implosion to be exact. It commenced with a loud and demanding -

"HAN!"

Leia was marching across the hanger bay towards him and the east entrance. Ground crew were quickly parting to make way and then jockey for the best covert position to view the next instalment of _The Han Versus Leia on Echo Base _show. Sometimes there were daily episodes and they never failed to entertain. Han didn't blame them. Hoth wasn't exactly chosen for its R&amp;R facilities.

He slowly stood up and turned, deliberately assuming his most casual pose, watching her advance.

It was sight to behold. Her father would be proud. She was presenting herself with perfect regal posture; shoulders set firmly back, stubborn chin jerked up, her pinned plaits crowning her delicate face impeccably. One thing gave her anger away - dark eyes were already ablaze. For such a small woman she packed quite a punch. This one was going to be a beauty. Han licked his lips in anticipation.

With half the hanger bay still yawning between them, she opened her mouth and took a deep breath, preparing to explode, not waiting a moment longer to launch her most recent tirade at him. Han raised both hands in mock surrender.

"Hey your Royalnessness – give a guy a break and wait for him to catch up will ya? What did I do this time? Forget to wear standard issue underwear?"

Finally stopping short a few paces in front of him, both hands went straight to her hips and she tilted her head to punctuate her patronising tone.

"Captain Solo. I am hardly interested in your underwear."

After swiftly deflating his leer with a pointed glare (come on, how could he let that one slip by?) she took another deep breath and valiantly reigned in her frustration with admirable restraint. Bravo.

"Please refrain from making your usual juvenile remarks. I'm here on official business."

"Official business huh? Is that what they call it these days? Well if you want to make it _official_ all you have to do is - "

"Captain Solo. Kindly shut up."

Han shut up. Only because he was distracted by the way she was biting her bottom lip.

"This scouting mission has not been approved."

"Well, that's news to me Sweetheart."

"I'm not your Sweetheart."

Yeah, he'd see about that. "Reikeen seemed okay with it."

That bottom lip was certainly getting a workout.

"The General is tactical. I outrank him in personnel. I approve all missions."

Sith this woman did his head in! What was her problem? It was just a scouting mission. You'd think she'd be glad to have him out of her hair for a while.

He with a shrug, he nonchalantly zipped up his snowsuit and pivoted away from her towards his stack of supplies.

"Okay. See you in couple of days then."

He braced himself for a second onslaught.

Silence. A long, long silence.

Han swivelled back. Two fathomlessly dark eyes drilled back into his.

Whoa! Did she know the affect that had on him? It went straight to his groin. When her facade of cool political indifference was down and that feisty young woman stood in front of him, it was all he could do not to pull her roughly up against him and lay one on her. She was exquisite. She was impossible. Not that he'd be sharing that with her anytime soon.

Craftily assuming complete ignorance of her broiling anger, he cocked an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Don't pretend you don't know exactly what you are doing Solo."

Wow. This was too easy. She was in maximum attack mode today.

"And what exactly am I doing Princess?"

"Oh I give up! Forget it. " She turned away from him and threw over her shoulder a muttered, "Big headed bantha brain."

Who's big headed? That's it!

Han grabbed her arm, making her swing back towards him. Her face, full of outrage, bore straight up and into his.

"Let of go me you lout!"

Leia shook his hand off with a violent wrench.

"Hey, easy on the insults sister. Lighten up will you?"

"Lighten up? That's your answer to everything isn't it? Some of us have responsibilities and just can't take off on a whim like you can! Some of us actually CARE!" she practically spat this at him.

"I do! I just want a day off from caring now and then."

With a dramatic sigh Leia finally dropped her laser like gaze from his, and focused on something over his shoulder. Her tone was one of resignation.

"Fine. Go. Get out of here."

" Honey, I don't need you to tell me twice. A blizzard is more appealing than your uppity iceberg company right now."

"Well if that's how you feel Captain, don't bother to come back."

She spun sharply on a heel and stomped away without a backward glance. Ouch.

Well, that could have gone better. Han found himself still grumbling from the shockwaves that followed into the ground transport holding bay. The woman could be a bit nicer couldn't she? Jeeze they were hardly paying him enough for the upkeep of the Falcon.

There was a unsubtle nudge from his Tauntaun. When he reached up and gave her scratch, she gurgled back in delight. At least Betty still liked him.

"Arggahh!"

On instant Wookie alert, Han reeled around and spotted Chewie waving long hairy arms as he strode toward him. Oh boy. What now? Was he here to upbraid him for bringing Her Royal Bossiness down a notch or two? Well, they could both float home.

"Argg ahh RRRAHHHH!"

Hang on. Something wasn't right. Chewie didn't look angry.

"Slow down buddy. I didn't quite catch that."

"Argg AHHHHH RRRAHHHH!"

"A cave in?"

Han felt his body flood with adrenalin as Chewie clutched his shoulder with vice like grip. Something was way off the mark. He swallowed unsteadily as realisation sunk in.

"The Princess – where is she?"

Han didn't wait for an answer. He could read it in Chewie's anxious eyes.

No.

Alarming foreboding instantly commanded an urgent compulsion to find Leia and see her safe. Pulling away from Chewie, Han's feet automatically started running towards the direction he saw her leave. His life fell away from him as everything narrowed down to obtaining one imperative truth.

She had to be okay. She had to be. What would they do without her? What would he do?

His heart pounded and roared with unleashed fear.

"Leia…hold on Sweetheart. I'm coming…I'm coming…"

TBC...Leia or Han's POV?


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to those who have followed and waited patiently. Hans POV...for now!  
**

* * *

Chaos reigned supreme as Han finally reached the last bend of the long and winding access tunnel leading to logistics. The entire time it took to get there, it felt like a single breath refused to enter or exit his burning lungs.

He was teetering on the brink of sheer panic. As his feet pounded the snow beneath him, occasionally leaping over random metallic runners and dodging panicking people getting in his way, they beat out a relentless rhythm; _Leia be okay. Please be okay. Leia be okay.._. he had never said her name so many times.

When he arrived at the site, he pulled up abruptly and gaped at the towering avalanche before him.

_No, no, no. _

Turning to the nearest person who looked in charge, he shouted -

"Where is she!"

There was a foreboding rumble and the walls shook. Ice tumbled around his feet.

A young man, who looked no more than rookie and obviously posted on emergency sentry duty, stared back at him with naked fear stretching across his face. He stammered,

"Captain Solo. It's… it's not safe. Go back sir."

_Not safe? Go back? Blow that for a joke!_

Deliberately crowding the boy, Han lifted a finger and pointed it directly towards the flushed face in front of him.

"The Princess. Tell me!'

"Sir if you could just - "

" Listen buddy - I'll give you exactly 3 seconds to answer me or I won't be responsible for my actions."

"Sir I have my orders –

"Damn your orders to hell. She's in there and needs help – out of my way!"

"Stand down Solo."

Swivelling around, Han observed General Reeikan rapidly striding towards him and he instantly backed off, mollified. He had always respected the Generals' quiet command and steady gaze. The general would do what was right – without delay. But first -

"She's in there – isn't she?"

The General sighed heavily and ran a rough hand through his hair. He had never looked so disturbed. Han felt his heart sink with further dread.

"The Princess hasn't been accounted for yet."

"What happened?"

"There were several small cave-ins back when we first settled here. We thought we'd rectified the structural problems –

"But obviously you haven't -"

The general grimaced wearily. "Obviously. The scanners have picked up some faint life forms."

"What are you doing to recover them? Why aren't people already digging for Sith's sake?"

Han's frustration was swiftly peaking again. It would only be abated once he saw Leia standing in front of him and blasting him for letting her getting into such a scrape.

Another shudder and cascade of snow answered Han's question and again he felt a horrible sense of doom.

_Leia._ Leia was in there. He felt it.

"It's not that easy. It's a huge risk -

"Risk? It's The Princess! Damn the risk! "

" Solo – it's an extremely dangerous manoeuvre for anyone to attempt rescue. A further cave in or complete collapse is inevitable. We would only be endangering more lives. I couldn't order - "

"I volunteer"

"Solo – you can't – "

"I said I volunteer."

Pausing, the General looked straight into Han eyes. True grit and determination resolutely stared back.

The General had his own private opinion about this man and who he was to the Princess. He always found it easier to let actions speak for themselves. Experience made him a patient man. A true nature could only be hidden for so long and while it took a little longer than usual, the illusive Captain Han Solo was no different.

While the man worked hard to exude an air of careless disregard towards anything earnest or principled and blatant insolence to authority with postured bravado, it was evident that the man couldn't suppress his innate goodness.

And a good man he was. Brave to a fault, highly intelligent, generous on the sly and the only individual on the entire planet who could make the stoic Leia Organa blush with mortification and explode with unrestrained exasperation in the same day.

Reeikan had, of course, heard the rumours, witnessed the unparalleled verbal bouts and dealt with the fallout time and again. But now he could conclude without a moment's hesitation that this man loved Leia. With every fibre of his being. He might not know it yet, but his actions spoke otherwise.

Solo's chest was drawn up and out, tight with anxiety, his face pinched with distress and the utter agony of being completely helpless to do anything but act irrationally and immediately. The woman Solo loved was somewhere under that terrifying pile snow and ice and she needed him. Who was he to stand in their way? It wasn't his choice to make, even when he gambled losing them both.

"Very well Captain. What do you need?"

Reeikan watched as sheer relief swamped Han's face and he let out a long breath.

"Your best working heat drill, a med kit and the longest piece of rope you can find."

The monitor was cracked across one corner and needed a good clean but it did the job.

Thermal scanners were usually employed on Hoth during scouting missions to spot enemy spies or probes. This time they would hopefully save Rebel lives.

The radar technician pointed a shaky finger and circled what looked like a faintly red blob. Han swallowed and prepared to voice the hardest question he knew he would have utter during this whole ordeal.

"She's alive?"

"Yes sir."

_Thank you_.

"Where is she?"

"We think she's located in this air pocket here."

"Air pocket? How did she manage that?" _Things are looking up. _

"It looks like she's lying partially beneath a service pipe. Just before the entrance to logistics. It's protected her."

_Even better_. "Are you sure it's her?"

"Yes sir. The bio-scan matches exactly."

"Can you tell if she is injured?"

"Not with this technology and all the interference. Sorry sir."

_Okay. Not so good, but better than before. _

"Right. Let's get started."

_Hang in there, Honey. _

Luke. He'd forgotten about Luke. The kid would freak out when he got back from his

reconnaissance run and do something stupid and noble. Oh well. He'd have to deal with that later. If he was around later.

Hitching a huge length of rope over his shoulder, Han rounded the corner and almost bumped into Chewie pacing back and forth in the limited space given in front of wake of the avalanche.

If anyone was closer to losing it than he was, it was the giant Wookie. As soon as he saw Han, he let out a such a loud and low wail the walls were in peril of shattering. The two young men on the drill team gave Han a pointedly anxious look.

This would not do. Chewie wouldn't let him go anywhere near the icy death trap. Especially with a life debt he already refused to settle. He didn't have time to get into an argument about throwing effort after foolishness, or jeopardize Chewie actually volunteering in his place, blundering around making it worse, probably killing himself in the process.

_Hmm. Maybe I can solve two problems at once? _

"Hey big fella! Cool it! She's fine all right? We're about to get her out."

Hearing this news, Chewie instantly and visibly calmed but gave a grudging growl in reply.

"Do me a favour will you? While I coördinate the rescue could ya keep an eye out for Luke? He's due back any minute. (he wasn't but Chewie didn't need to know that) Tell him what's happened before any of these clowns the pass on the wrong information, will ya pal?"

Immediately suspicious, Chewie tilted his head to one side and sized him up, but years of sitting across from his hairy co-pilot at a Sabacc table made Han a master of bluff.

"Arrgh gah ragh ah?"

"Nah. These guys know what they're doing. They'll have her out before you get back. Right boys?"

Although the young men didn't speak Wookie, they knew Captain Solo well enough to nod their heads and play along.

With a grunt, Chewie slapped a huge and heavy paw, hard on his shoulder and trudged off down the corridor complaining all the way. When the last of his growls were distant echoes, Han turned back to the boys urgently.

"Right. We have 15 minutes to do this before Chewie twigs. And trust me, you don't want a pissed off Wookie on your tail.

Like every piece of machinery owned by the rebel alliance on this wasted ice planet, the so-called "best heat drill" was slow and working at half power. Water trickled unpleasantly down the front of Han's waterproof suit, deeming it useless. Crawling on his belly through the mushy white womb-like tunnel and pausing now and then when he heard a slight rumble, Han snarled with frustration. His anxiety was only making it worse. This was taking far too long.

"How much further boys?"

A crackling voice in his earpiece answered back.

"You're almost there sir. But it's very unstable. Reeikan says –

"Yeah, yeah. Well, tell him I'm not going anywhere. Can you still see her?

"Yes sir"

"Still a nice little red blip on the radar?"

"Affirmative."

Just as Han was thanking the gods that the Princess was made of tougher stuff, the proximity alert on the heat drill leapt into action.

"I think that's it. I'll be digging by hand from now on. Get ready to pull us out."

No answer.

"Hello? Huxon? ….. Anyone?"

A small voice that seemed miles away bounced down the tunnel.

"Sir you're too far in for coms to work."

Han sighed. Oh well. He liked a challenge

"That's ok. The Princess and I are good at shouting."

"Yes sir. I mean…um… Yes sir."

"That was a joke to lighten the mood."

"Yes sir. Thank you"

Han sighed. His day was really turning out to be a bummer.

"Standby."

Han adjusted the lamp so it gave him maximum light and began pulling snow and ice toward him. Just when he was thinking there wasn't much more room in the tunnel for it to go, his hands broke through and into a cavity. The dim light exposed a small dirty boot.

"Leia! Leia!" Han instinctively reached out and held on to that boot.

"I'm here. It's okay." His heart started beating wildly again. Now that he could see her, all he wanted to do was touch her.

" Captain?"

"I've got her boys. Stand by"

He began frantically digging again, pushing the snow instead of pulling this time, never taking his eyes off the small and still form of the Princess being gradually revealed.

Finally, after what seemed like eons, he made a hole big enough to awkwardly slither through, the rope tied around the harness on his waist trailing after him.

For a cavity, it was surprisingly spacious. A huge beam acted as a makeshift roof, keeping the larger blocks of ice from tumbling down and the service pipe did the rest of the job. Han could almost sit up.

_Nice digs Princess_

Sliding over and then laying down beside her, Han performed quick scan across Leia's figure, checking for injuries. Even in a dire situation such as this, the Princess exuded a dignity and grace that even surpassed unconsciousness. Except for a hell of bump on her head she looked like she was sleeping, curled up and onto her side, limbs neatly arranged.

Han stretched out a trembling hand and gently cupped a rounded cheek. Her white skin matched her surroundings. She was deathly cold, but alive. Grasping her shoulder, he gave it a soft squeeze.

"Princess?"

Nothing.

There was another shudder from above and snow rained down upon them. Then something nasty creaked and groaned in protest.

Scooping an arm under her light frame, Han gently rolled Leia on to her back. They didn't have much time.

"Ok. Enough of the silent treatment. Time to go. But I can't drag us both out of here without some help."

He paused and looked at her again and shook her slightly.

"If you wake up I'll let you blame me for this avalanche Sweetheart."

Still nothing.

"Okay. Have it your way."

Reaching blindly into the med kit bag, Han pulled out a hypodermic spray.

"Don't take this the wrong way all right? I just need a little skin."

Pulling on the snowsuit zipper dangling just underneath Leia's chin and parting the material to expose the long line of her neck, he pressed the hypo into her soft skin without ceremony.

Hypos were always a last resort, but he needed her conscious. They made you feel groggy and gave you a thumping a headache, but thanks to her head injury, it looked like she'd have one anyway. He'd sympathise later.

"Captain Solo?"

"Hang on guys. I'm just waking her up."

Funny. Until Huxon's anxious voice intervened, seemed like they were the only two people left in the world.

Han watched her closely as the effects of the hypo gradually seeped in. First her eyelids started flickering, her lips parted and she then released a very gentle sigh.

Han sighed along with her. He didn't realise until now how much he needed to see her awake.

Her brows came together and she let out a slight moan. She was in pain! Damn the consequences…

He slipped an arm under her neck, creating a pillow for her head while his other hand swept up and around the underside of her cheek.

It was suddenly so very intimate. Both of them - lying closely together in the quiet. Within the white stillness, Han whispered,

"Come on Leia, I can't do this without you."

Just what that really was, Han didn't think to pause and reflect upon.

He had to get her out of here, quickly, but without frightening her. It was going to be much harder than it was getting in. The tunnel he'd created to reach her made everything that more precarious, and there'd be hell to pay once she knew he risked his life to save hers. But for now Han didn't care. She had a chance and that's what mattered.

There was another moan and dark eyes were struggling to open and focus. Han braced himself for her wrath, but couldn't quell the sudden and overwhelming affection he now felt for this tiny woman laying in his arms.

"Come on Gorgeous. Open those big brown eyes for me."

* * *

**Thanks for reading. Any suggestions or feedback are always appreciated.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello loyal readers. If you have waited all this time or been on alert for updates - thank you! I've been directing a play, and all energy gets hurled into the show. You might want to refresh previous chapters because it's been well over 5 months for some of you and the timelines of this story shuffle around a bit. So - on with the next chapter with more to come soon. I promise! **

** Han ****_and_****_then_**** Leia's POV to reward your patience….**

"You mean, to get out of here, I have to crawl through THAT?" Leia gaped with sheer horror at the mouth of the tunnel that vanished into the twisted darkness.

Han sighed for what seemed like the millionth time since this all began. Not a good start.

With wonderful timing, the ceiling groaned yet again and let loose another juddering crack. Sprinkles of snow settled on their heads like confetti. Han and Leia jointly absorbed the silence in its wake, which settled like a dead weight between them.

Han tilted a lip up.

"It could be worse."

"Worse?" Her dilated pupils and rising inflection stated that nothing could possibly be worse.

"Well yeah. The other option is to live here. But hey… I'm game if you are. I like to sleep on the left."

She didn't even bother to give him the eyebrow in reply. This was a bad sign. Her chest began to rise and fall swiftly.

"Han, I can't go into that." She pointed a very wobbly hand towards the offending hole.

"Sure you can."

"No, I really mean it. I can't."

Well aware that the princess was on the verge of panic, her inhalations becoming shorter and sharper by the second, Han rapidly weighed up his options. This is what he wanted to avoid all along.

Lately, he suspected something was seriously askew with Leia. Apart from the usual arguing, he'd been intently scrutinizing her for several days now. After carefully adding up the evidence, he concluded that the princess spent a hell of a lot of her time and energy screening something she perceived to be a shameful shortcoming.

Surreptitiously backing out of the crowded control room before calling an order from the doorway, refusing to travel in anything less than a 10 man transporter shuttle, and never, ever allowing herself to be left alone in the narrow service lift. Echo Base must be her worst nightmare – an interminable hot spot of pocket-sized and enclosed spaces.

He assumed it had to do with her incarceration on the Death Star and the torture she dauntlessly endured in the stark and clinical terror of the interior of cell 118. Gods damn the Empire to hell. The bastards.

Han struggled to find the words to help her. To get her moving. But time was ticking far too quickly. The crypt like sanctuary of the crevasse they were huddled in didn't sound like it would last much longer. And there was only one way to leave. Han mentally grimaced. _Never tell me the odds._

Knocking her out wouldn't work. Anything could happen shuffling their way through what was the equivalent of 50 metres of slushy service pipe and he needed her conscious just in case.

He couldn't very well tie her up and pull her screaming, scratching, tooth and nail to safety could he? She was a small but tough little thing and the entire tunnel would probably collapse down on them if he did. Han didn't relish the thought. Besides, he couldn't imagine breaking the carefully erected barricades of Leia's poise. Part of him would also break if he did that. No, she had to do this herself.

Han uncurled a cold hand and gently grasped Leia's chin, turning her face towards his. But her eyes remained transfixed on the object of her mounting dread. She was beginning to hyperventilate.

"Hey sweetheart. Look at me"

"No. No. I can't. Don't ask me to do this…"

"Leia - Come on. It's all right - "

She jerked her face away from his hand.

"No. I won't. No - please!"

"Hey hey… Calm down."

"Get away from me."

Blank eyes reflected another time and place. Small hands were raised in meagre protection as she backed away.

"Hey - What's going on?"

He made a monumental mistake of reaching out to her and she violently flinched, warding off an invisible nemesis.

"It hurts. It hurts - "

"What hurts?"

"I won't tell you anything!"

"Leia honey stop-"

"I won't! I said no! No, no, no!"

"Leia - stop! It's Han. Look at me!"

Leia's suddenly sucked in a short breath and somehow snapped herself back from the thick mist of her delirium. His apprehension eased somewhat as she scanned her surroundings and they slowly became lucid. Her befuddled expression flicked up and found his.

"Han?"

"I'm here."

She let out a soft cry, immediately pressing her fingers across her mouth in an unsuccessful attempt to smother it.

In the rare moments when Leia forgot she was a Princess and the robes of ceremony, decorum and self-discipline were ruthlessly stripped away; Han was reminded quite sharply that she was just a girl. A girl who needed him from time to time.

"Where did you go?" he whispered.

"I'm sorry."

The words sounded so fragile.

"Don't be."

Her bottom lip trembled. Han silently cursed the Empire once more as glassy tears finally welled up and she began to break under the strain of holding on for so long.

_Decorum be damned_.

Leia's throat was on fire from holding back the aching tears. She gulped coarsely, desperately trying to stem the dam from bursting, but she knew it hopeless with Han looking at her with such naked concern. She glanced down and away. It was too much. She was red raw and there was nowhere to hide. She heard a muttered cuss word and a cautious hand wrapped around her upper arm.

"Come here."

Just as the tears spilled over her cheeks, Leia felt herself tip forward into warm, solid arms. As she was unapologetically pulled across his lap, they slid slowly to firmly encircle her waist and shoulders, as her body was pressed snug against the masculine plains of a broad and muscular chest. The top of her head was tucked neatly under a lightly whiskered chin.

Of their own accord, Leia's eyes slid shut and clutching in both fists the soft material of the shirt revealed under the unzipped part of his snowsuit, she let out a keening wail.

A puff of air brushed across her ear as a low voice murmured, "That's it. Let it out. You'll be okay. It's okay" and he began to slowly rock her.

One large hand stretched up and smoothed over the lines of her back. Up, down and across. The other deftly cupped the back of her head as a vagrant thumb performed its own dance along the hairline of her neck.

Long, leisurely caresses, as if he had the whole night to wait for her to calm. Stinging tears now freely poured out and dampened the front of the shirt and deep slit of skin it exposed as his voice continued to roll over and through her in waves.

"It's okay. Shhh. I'm here. Shhh. "

The soothing and tender stranger again. No innuendo. No bravado. He was simply pacifying a frightened soul. She had never felt so safe and she couldn't resist rubbing a wet cheek against the heat that radiated from his skin. His heartbeat, so strong and deep and the minor abrasiveness of the light spray of hair crinkling against her face were deliciously comforting. She was drifting in the sensation and the awful ache she had been enduring for so long began to subside.

The small part of 'Everyday Leia' that wasn't dormant, realised that she should be outraged that Han could be perceived as taking liberties – and that she was wallowing in them, but she was so tired. Tired of fighting. Tired of standing on her own. Tired of being scared but brave and always saying and doing what was right. THIS was right. This was what she needed.

In defiance, Leia screwed her eyes tighter and burrowed herself closer into his chest, clasping her own arms around the glorious cocoon of his body. She took a long, luxuriating and cleansing breath as his hands continued to hypnotise with their rhythmical stroking and latent heat. She swore she could feel it through the layers of her snowsuit.

He smelled so good. A unique aroma she always associated with Han – faintly of soap, but mainly Falcon engine grease, the leather of his weathered gun belt and boots and an undefinable salty male muskiness she was yet to name.

Her breathing slowed to match his and the hot tears gradually, finally stopped. The pain was gone and her whole world was still at last. Completely drained, Leia sniffed quietly and then, to her utter mortification - loudly hiccupped.

Han's body shook slightly and there was a muffled chuckle that reverberated through his torso.

Modesty reluctantly crept back with reality. The darkness refused to mask her growing sense of propriety. How could she face him after such a display? She practically – no not practically – she actually succumbed to a rip roaring meltdown and then willingly fell into the arms of the man she had bullied and sparred with since they arrived on Hoth. Cried like a child. And liked it.

Leia released what she hoped was an imperceptible groan. It was done and there was no use putting off the inevitable, so she leaned back a tad and peeked up. Han gazed back, his hands finally still and resting on her waist. The obligatory renegade lip was still on duty, but it failed to conceal the kindliness in his eyes that started all of this.

"Better?"

"Yes."

Inexplicably, in the space it took to say those two words, Leia realised she felt no shame or embarrassment. It was then that she knew what she had to do.

Pulling away gently, she carefully untangled her limbs from Hans and created the required distance, mindful that he was quietly watching as she put the familiar layers back on, one by one, her strength returning, flooding back into her.

After wiping her face clear, adjusting the zipper of her snowsuit, and tucking an errant strand of hair behind an ear, there was just one more thing to do.

Pushing her shoulders back and tipping her chin up regally, Leia looked Han right the eye. Her voice clear and unwavering -

"I'm ready Captain."

**Thanks for reading. TBC…**


	5. Chapter 5

**Han's POV. Because he is so much fun to write…**

Han restrained himself from whistling in admiration. Lords this woman was one tough cookie.

And she was also presenting herself in what he'd reckoned to be her most beguiling – automatically sending his libido up a notch or two.

Han pretty much liked all facets of Leia. He'd taken delight in discovering them one by one and some had only recently popped up. "NO Sleep For 3 Days Straight' was his least favourite Leia, 'Tipsy on Corellian Fire Whisky' Leia was definitely a close second favourite (who'd have thought the Princess actually knew a dirty joke)

'Most Bewitching and Beguiling' Leia was an entity entirely unto itself. Never failing to commence with her biting her lower lip and tilting her head in thought, calmly and shrewdly sizing both him and the current situation up.

Gone was the fragile creature that clung to him with such abandon. Her shoulders were now squared and poised, impervious eyes resting coolly upon his, as though she were politely receiving some bigwig dignitary for interplanetary negotiations.

_Holy hells_ _ \- I must be some kinky masochist to find Leia so damned irresistible when she does that Aloof and Untouchable thing _Han mused.

Had he really felt the delightful softness of her body pressing into his as he stroked his hands without a second thought over her back? Did he murmur sweet nothings into her the shell of her ear as she shook with racking pain? Only the faint track marks of tears that elegantly followed the lines of Leia's face, gave her away.

How did she do that?

Funny, but it was only right now, it finally sunk in that Leia truly was _Royalty_. She didn't wear her duty, honour and dignity like armour or a tactical veneer. They were innate. Royalty was simply a part of her and something she drew on as naturally as he drew on his blaster when times were turbulent.

As Han sat back and soaked in the vision, the respect he felt for this tiny power-pack of a woman washed over him and he wrestled with the startlingly strong desire to tell Leia how proud he was of her.

_Huh. _That wouldn't go down well – particularly when she was at her most self contained and distant. If Han didn't know Leia better, he would have thought he'd hallucinated the whole episode leading up to this moment.

He couldn't just blurt out - "I'm proud of you Honey." Even in his head it sounded ridiculously trite.

Besides, Han always found that words were woefully inadequate. He was never good at articulating stuff like that. It always came out flippant or caustic and he mostly copped a counter- productive verbal beating in reply. Sometimes, with heavy objects flying towards his head.

How could he tell this woman that he was honoured to hold her when she wept? That she trusted him enough to open herself to him? How he was in awe of how she repeatedly and stoically hoisted herself back up, dusted herself off and just got on with the gods-damned job. In this case -literally.

_Pathetically patronising tripe._

Nope – there was a reason Han always let his actions do the talking.

Sometimes he just wanted to completely contradict himself and break the beguiling vision. Surrender to the urge to undo that tightly braided hair and gently run his fingers through the silken strands, letting it tumble around the fine features of her face and see her transformed into the girl he glimpsed from time to time. She was such a conundrum.

And she'd probably deck him.

Leia was looking at him oddly. Had she seen what he was thinking? He forgot how easily Leia could read him when he wasn't careful. The unusual tenderness that sprung up between them took them both by surprise and although unprecedented, it felt right. But now, thanks to Her Royal Highnessness making an appearance, an awkward sense of belated protocol was trickling in, despite their location and circumstances.

Han shook himself back into practicality. Right now, Leia needed the cocky space pirate with the infamously crafty, unsentimental head. No doubt, they were in a real pickle here. They were over the first hurdle, and the second, although necessary, definitely wasn't tempting.

_Come on Solo get back to the job_.

"What's the plan Your Worship?"

"I was under the impression _you_ always had a plan Captain Solo."

Han smirked to disguise his relief. Atta girl! Leia was a master at throwing the first punch. Han always enjoyed the first few minutes of a bout before he usually put his boot where the sun don't shine and it escalated into a shouting match. Well they couldn't shout here. The ceiling would fall down within seconds once Leia really got going. Better to keep it light and flirty.

He held up Leia's harness.

"Arms up."

Reaching around her diminutive frame, Han began snapping on the various straps and buckles as Leia awkwardly tried to help, occasionally moving a limb out of the way or threading an arm through a loop. He was worried again. She had complied far too quickly. If Leia could do something for herself, he instantly knew about it.

_Keep it breezy, don't give her time to think. _

"Nearly done. Hope you packed light."

Leia valiantly tried to return a nervous smile.

Hefting the rope that trailed after him, up and around her tiny waist, Han clicked the last toggle in to place.

He threw her a roughish wink and hoped for the best.

"We have a tunnel built for two Sweetheart. Ready to get up close and personal?" _Again… _

Instead of performing the expected eye roll, Leia began crawling towards the mouth of the hole that was still dripping water from his entrance. Sitting back gracefully on her heels and turning her delicate profile towards him, she nailed him with a sultry but mocking demeanour.

"I said so before. I'm always ready Captain."

Han's jaw promptly dropped. Whoa! Where did that come from? Counter-banter had the knack of unnervingly biting him on the backside when she retaliated that way.

'Sexy' Leia rarely surfaced, and only when she really wanted to sock it to him. It never failed to do exactly what she intended. Completely floor him and give her the upper hand. The minx! She was pitching all she had at him and he began to wonder just who was distracting whom.

They both jumped when a faraway forgotten voice echoed from the innards of the tunnel.

"Captain Solo. How are things progressing Sir?"

Han sidled over next to the Princess and stuck his head down as far down as he could and hollered -

"Keep your hair on Huxon. We're just about to start the return trip."

"Very good sir."

"Cut the 'Sir' crap Huxon. Its getting on my nerves okay? I'll let you know when we're ready."

"Copy that Sir...I mean Captain. Standing by Sir."

Han grinned and nudged Leia.

"He means well."

Leia nudged back.

"Well that's comforting."

Their smiles simultaneously faded as they both stared silently at the cavity before them swiftly bleeding from stark white to an ominous black that vanished into the unknown. Han heard Leia softly gasp and the tension palpably rose.

_Keep it light. Keep her busy. _

"Okie dokie. Let's get started."

Bracing both hands to use the lip of the tunnel as leverage, Han skilfully swung both legs up and into the barrel of the channel, sliding and then reclining on his side as if enjoying a lazy rest on his bunk. Propping a hand under his head to lean up, he held out the other in what he hoped looked like a casual and playful manner.

"C'mere Princess. It's time to get cosy with your favourite Nerfherder."

**TBC…**


	6. Chapter 6

**Jeanmarie3 – I hope you didn't die waiting for this...**

_Now or never. _

Leia stared down at Han's hand, elegantly poised and waiting to assist her, just as an all-pervading voice of reason insisted on warring with her instincts: Get in the damned tunnel and live. Avoid the damned tunnel and die.

Both were highly unappealing. The fight or flight compulsion was never as visceral, and Leia considered her political career a classic connoisseur. The ever-present rational side knew she didn't have a choice, the primal animal just wanted to howl. Back and forth. Back and forth. Oh hell.

Han's hovering hand reached up and carefully enfolded her palm. The slightly callused pad of a finger began a winding dance along the inside of her wrist.

"Come on Sweetheart. I've been told that I'm an expert tunnel snuggler."

He was good at that – distracting her at the exactly the right time. And he'd been extremely patient despite their dangerous location and obvious urgency of the situation. Lately, something between them had shifted, but the events of the last 10 minutes or so had hurtled their…relationship… for want for a better word, onto a completely different trajectory.

Although his tone was light and flirtatious, Han's eyes told a different story.

They always did that. Contradicted. And once Leia discovered this fact, everything changed between them.

In the past, Leia studiously avoided looking too closely at Han. When they fought, she had more pressing things to think about apart from his offensively good looks and physique. Things like sticking to the subject and wining the argument.

She usually focused just over his shoulder or ignored his presence entirely. It was the only defense she had. Expertly circumnavigating prolonged eye and body contact at all costs and exiting with the most corroding comment she could pitch as promptly as possible. It was either that or launching herself at him. Even when he wasn't at his most obnoxious, or maybe despite this, the man was far too distracting. And Han had many, many distracting assets within his arsenal and at his disposal.

Leia was only too well aware the effect Han on women. He wore it as comfortably and casually as his favourite gun belt, but never hesitated to lay it on thick when it suited and amused him.

Whenever he sauntered into a room, Leia could tangibly feel the energy lift as female eyes automatically swung towards the alpha male's direction. Leia hated this. Not because she was competitive or possessive. It was natural he had this effect. It was _because_ he had this effect, and that she and every other living, breathing women in his proximity was powerless to deny it.

From the day he had arrived at the base, Leia had heard the sighs, the fluttering giggles and the whispered conversations examining various parts of his anatomy. They were careful not to be overheard around superiors, so Leia only picked up snippets that were cut short as soon as she entered a room or passed a table in the mess hall.

But over 3 odd years, she built up a pretty solid picture of what the female population of Hoth thought about the studly (not her words) space rogue called Han Solo.

They honed in on more obvious things. Like his lips. How it would feel to be on the receiving end. Lips that were considered almost too pouty and sensual to be purely masculine but how his abundant smirks, leers and grins defied this.

Or his arse. Apparently it hurt to look at it, but when on glorious display in those tight pants, strutting around and deliciously framed (again not her words) by his navy pilot jacket, it was deemed hard to miss.

Oh there was more. Much more. He was an endless source of fantasy and speculation… His honeyed, come hither bedroom voice…. His long legs, and slim hips, swaggering around in scuffed leather boots like he owned the place, His strong hands and muscular arms and how they looked when he rolled his sleeves up… and as for what was under that gun belt… oh it was all too silly and juvenile.

While the girl in Leia silently agreed, the Princess outwardly refused to become one of the fans. It was beyond undignified and beneath her. You could see her dilemma.

Recently however, she'd become skilled in separating her words and actions from her observations and discovered to her private delight, that she could gaze upon him at her leisure from the camouflage of a full throttle attack.

Now, after a bout, or even just a carelessly sarcastic comment skating past one another in the corridor, Leia could sit in her chamber and quietly fume, while simultaneously reliving her own inspection.

While at first anyway, Leia also appreciated these delectable assets of Han – she'd have to be blind not to see them - it wasn't long before there was only one object of desire she sort. His eyes. No matter how hard he tried to deflect this critical flaw with shouting, a finger thrust in her face and a plentiful supply of offhand insults - they reflected exactly what was really going on inside.

The day Leia finally noticed this and the tables turned was as mundane as the ones before it. But it was cataclysmic in her proceedings with Han from then on. This memory was now ingrained as a vivid game altering moment.

Strolling through a transport hanger-bay on her way to ground staff briefing, Leia stopped short, discovering that she was actually 15 clicks early. This was unprecedented. From the moment she rose, to when she shut her eyes, her day was a crowded itinerary of meetings, briefings and worrying. 15 clicks with nothing to fill it was an unheard of luxury. What to do?

Helpless with the choice, and well aware how peculiar she potentially looked to the personnel respectfully filing past her, Leia was just about to turn and march back to her chambers when she heard a guttural cuss word and a spanner thrown with a metallic clang, echoing from under one of nearby speeders.

It was then that she spotted Solo's boots and backside awkwardly sticking out from under the carriage. It was unusual he wasn't working on The Falcon, but the rebel base was still adapting machinery to the relentless cold and, being a mechtech whiz, his skills were in high demand.

A large and dirty hand appeared and gestured blindly."

"Hey buddy, pass me some tools will ya? I can't reach a thing."

Glancing around, Leia realised with alarm that he had mistaken her for one of the tech crew.

"Listen Pal, I haven't got all day. There's a contraband card game going on and I'd like to get there before Her Mightiness finds out and shuts it down."

Disguising her smirk in case someone overheard him, Leia gracefully knelt and reaching for the nearest spanner, skilfully dropped it handle first into the palm of the waiting hand. It disappeared and then reappeared almost immediately.

"Wrong spanner pal. Gimme the one with a doovie thing on top."

Looking around and then biting her lip with glee, she handed him someone's forgotten and stale ration bar.

"Ha ha. Real funny buddy. Look, just slide under here with the whole kit will ya?"

Leia wasn't sure if sliding into an enclosed space with The Captain was one of her wisest decisions that day, but part of her couldn't resist. It was all too easy. She was winning this one without any effort at all. Strangely, she hadn't given it a second thought, when before, a dark and enclosed space was her worst nightmare.

" Hurry up. I'm getting a cramp."

Covertly checking over her shoulder that no one was witnessing the event, Leia sidled dexterously into and along the space between the floor and underside of the speeder, neatly ending up nose to nose with the man himself.

His surprise was well worth the effort.

In the darkness she watched him take a sharp breath and choke out -

"What? …Um…. Err… Leia?"

She could count on one hand the times Han had called her Leia. It always sounded like a slip of the tongue – like he held it back as a strategic tactic that at times got the better of him. And it never disappointed in sending a secret and extremely pleasurable streak of lighting up her spine.

Leia watched as his Adams apple smoothly bobbed up and down his larynx, while he desperately tried to think of something to gain his sorely lost equilibrium. He took a deep breath. An eyebrow went up and a lip went down.

"Well…. hello."

Leia inwardly smirked. That was the best he could come up with?

He looked like a kid caught with his hand well and truly caught in the cookie jar.

" A _contraband_ card game Captain?"

"Well, not here – the officers quarters."

"I see…"

Leia let that hang between them and enjoyed watching the normally implacable Han literally squirm in the limited space. He wriggled around so he could strategically look down at her.

"Listen, the guys need to let off steam. It's just a bit of fun – "

"Her _Mightiness_? That's a new one."

He paused and looked her. Again in surprise. Her light-hearted banter was new to the both of them. Being playful wasn't Leia's style and although he didn't know how to grasp this yet, he expertly improvised nonetheless.

"You like it? Thought you would."

"Well not exactly. It doesn't have your usual bite. Surely you can do better?"

Suddenly, Leia felt like laughing. It was such a silly conversation to have lying side by side under a rusty old speeder – with Han Solo of all people. Also, the fact they actually weren't being…. well…. rude to each other was rather…weird.

"How about…. Her Huffiness?"

"Well, that has a certain ring to it."

Han's lips twitched ever so slightly.

"You know, just for now, I think I'll call you Leia."

"For now?"

"For now."

He was openly grinning. It wasn't a nasty, forced grin, designed to punctuate a stinging retort. It was cheeky, genuine and…. charming.

Now sensing a different shade of a disturbing something in his tone, Leia decided to withdraw before she lost more of the upper hand. She moved her hands into position in order to get ready to reverse direction and out of the danger zone.

"Very well Captain – "

Too late.

A hand shot out and grabbed one of hers with lightening stealth.

"Hang on Sweetheart, you forgot something."

A long, long pause as they made magnetic eye contact that lasted much longer than the socially acceptable 3 seconds.

Han dipped his head ever so slightly, his eyes hooded.

Her instincts were correct – this tenor was one he had never used deliberately with her before – suggestive, smoky and intimate.

What was going on?

_Get out - now Leia!_

__The decayed ration bar was thrust up in front of her face.

"I believe this is yours?"

He was mocking her!

Why… the stinking…. bantha chewing…. lava flea!

_Well two can play at that game._

Before she could think twice, Leia leaned over and took a slow bite from the ration bar, her lips deliberately grazing the side of his hand.

Although it had the consistency of a roof tile and tasted like something ancient scrapping the bottom of the laundry shute, Leia chewed for all she worth – as if it were the most delicious thing she had ever consumed.

"Mmm, mmm. Yummm."

She closed her eyes and upped the stakes.

"Mmmm….. my favorite. Hmmm…."

Surreptitiously glancing up at Han, Leia was elated to see that gob smacked look on his face for the second time today.

After swallowing daintily, watching him, watch her, lick suddenly dry lips, she abruptly dropped her sultry voice and demeanor, returning to senatorial sternness.

"Well this has been educational. Good afternoon."

Han was opening and closing his mouth and making an odd noise.

Patting him on a slightly greasy cheek, she smothered a laugh.

"I think I'll call you Han – for now."

Leaving him decidedly fish-faced, she then slithered herself out from under the speeder and stood swiftly. She couldn't believe what she had just said and done.

She one-upped Han! Big time! She felt like punching the air and whopping for joy, but compensated instead with adjusting her jacket and smoothing her hair back. She was a Princess after all.

Not knowing what to do next, Leia decided a quick exit was in order, practically running out of the hanger bay and completely forgetting the reason she was there in the first place.

Something made her turn back at the entrance.

Han had followed example and slipped out from under the speeder. He was reclining up against the side, his legs nonchalantly stretched before him, casually cleaning a spanner with a rag and watching her exit with interest. When he caught her eye, he smiled a very nice smile. Then he gave her a wink.

That was a first. Leia found the corners of her lips traitorously tilting up in response. He then bestowed her a faultless military salute – a touché` if you will - but it was fittingly self-deprecating because he executed it with the spanner in his hand.

It ended their moment perfectly. Leia fled.

Back in her chambers at the end of the long day, Leia thought over what had happened. This encounter was vastly different than all the others before it. They weren't hiding behind anger and inflammatory insults as their usual line of defense. Today they were equals. And they had actually joked around and enjoyed each other's…. company?

It was only now that she had the space and emotional distance to remember his eyes. Shaded by the darkness of the underbelly of the speeder, they still spoke volumes. In them she saw grudging respect, she saw humour, but above all, she saw want.

Han was interested, in her, in that way. Not just in the 'ration bar moment way' she considered with a flush of delayed chagrin. He liked her. He was interested like he would be with any other woman, she reasoned, but the fact he saw her as a woman – not just an adversary, gave her a rush of…something.

Maybe his over the top antagonism was also his strategic cover? If so, how ironic. While Leia knew she couldn't act upon this discovery, it was a relief to know the feeling was mutual.

From that day onward, this knowledge was both a source of power and vulnerability. By being able to watch and read him closely, she had actually trapped herself into seeing and being alarmingly open to, feeling more. She made things so complicated for her self sometimes.

There was still the unspoken agreement that when it all got too much, they still fought like Sith. At times, like today at the east entrance, they overdid it. But now and then, when they needed a break, and a bit of levity, they bantered, like equals. Sometimes, on Han's behalf, with lashings of innuendo. Like they were almost…affectionate friends.

There was a light squeeze to her hand and, jerking herself back into reality, Leia forced her self to think about the moment imminently approaching. She had a decision to make and Han was looking at her almost good naturedly – as if they had all the time in the world for her to muster enough courage.

What were his eyes saying now?

Today they were pools of emerald green, with specks of gold around the edges. Kindly and very patient eyes that unashamedly mirrored he understood exactly what was going on inside her mess of a head. It appeared that while she was busy reading him, he had gotten pretty damned good at reading her.

"Trust me," those depthless eyes revealed.

It was then Leia realized she had always trusted Han. Even when she couldn't stand the man. Even though she didn't trust herself when she was around him.

No one but Han could do this with her and she felt a flood of gratitude and calm enter her soul that he was here.

Han's brow rose in surprise when she offered him a small but genuine smile and firmly squeezed his hand back. He quickly made more room for her as she began to climb into the limited space left beside him in the mouth of the tunnel.

As soon as she settled against his broad chest, Han's warmth and scent enveloped her once more like a soft blanket as his arms tightened gently but securely around her.

Leia closed her eyes. And breathed.

Everything would be fine.

**Thanks for reading.**

**TBC…**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7… Here goes nothing. **

_Uh oh … This ain't a good idea.._. _I think I'm in big trouble…_

The second Leia graced him with a fetching smile, crawled her delectable figure into his personal space and proceeded to practically laminate herself against the entire front length of his body, Han's wayward libido hurtled straight into hyperdrive. It always did on some level around her, but right now, every single blood vessel instantly sparked to red, hot alert.

His ultimate fantasy and nightmare, all rolled into one giant tangled ball of unsolicited urges, was now calmly reclining next to him as if it wasn't the most downright, nerve-wracking and incredibly sexy thing that had ever happened in the history of this gods forsaken planet.

During rare moments of retrospect, Han was surprised to realize that he took a while to notice Leia. The subconscious, more aloof part of him certainly appreciated the fierce beauty that matched an equally intense but annoyingly anal-retentive temperament. But it was nothing personal. Similarly in the way he'd admire the sleek lines and new features of the latest model of his favourite blaster. Sure, she was easy on the eye, he conceded…if _Ice Queen_ was your kinda thing. Any fool could fall for that.

The game-changing encounter that sharply nipped his wry smugness in the bud, would forever be etched into Han's memory. A defining moment when he_ really_ _looked _at and into Leia and realized that she much more than just 'A Bit Of A Stuck Up Babe.' Nipped? Who was he kidding? It was more like a gut wrenching, sucker-punch to his stomach.

She wasn't wearing anything particularly alluring. In fact, she looked a right ole' mess when this startling revelation finally dawned. But what Leia wore rarely had anything to do with her effect on him.

He was stalking the bowels of the base in the late hours of the evening in search of some engine lubricant for The Falcon. As the Rebel Alliance had only recently settled on the base, everything was stacked in half unpacked crates and complete disarray. He couldn't find a thing.

Pausing in the dim doorway light of a large supply hold, he heard an inhuman groan, a nasty sounding creak and then a pipe bursting and gushing with water. This was followed by an angrily shrieked -

"Son of _Sith_ Lord!"

Poking his head around the corner, he spotted Leia wrestling with a huge wrench, failing in her attempt to tighten a huge service pipe facet as dirty brown water defiantly sprayed everywhere – but mainly all over her. After another futile moment, she swore again and started assaulting the protesting pipe with furious, savage blows.

"Why - _bang_ \- won't - _crash_ \- you - _bash_ \- CO-OPERATE!

Han impulsively stepped in to assist. He hated seeing perfectly good equipment abused like that, he reasoned. When he reached around her wildly flailing arms and tried to snatch the wrench from Leia, she swiveled to face him and almost took a swipe it at him in surprise.

"What the – "

"Give it here Sweetheart."

"I don't – '

"Unless you want to continue your fresher session?"

By now the water was saturating him as well but he hadn't noticed because he'd just decided he liked Leia crowded between him and the wall, being very…. Un-princess-like.

She paused and then let out another growl of frustration.

"All right Hotshot -_ take_ the damn thing."

Grudgingly surrendered her tool she placed both hands on her hips and scowled at him.

Han sidled around her and, with a few expert twists and turns, the stream of water quickly ran dry.

"There you go Sweetheart."

He flipped the handle of the wrench and it landed faultlessly into the palm of his hand with a satisfying smack.

"Piece of cake."

Leia huffed with further annoyance and he couldn't help grinning sardonically. It was all too easy to get a rise out the princess, especially when she was so…unexpectedly… un-groomed.

Hmmm….

Han drew back and his gaze drifted down.

Drip, drip, drip.

The echo of haphazard drops of water accompanied his silent inspection.

She was dressed in an obviously second-hand and very stained ground trooper undershirt with a few top buttons missing. The skewed opening revealed the delicate crevasse of her collarbone and drooped over a power-white and very inviting shoulder.

A pair of low-slung camouflage pants about 3 sizes too large for her and tightened with an ancient gun belt, displayed a slit of creamy skin peaking out over the gentle curve of her navel. Large and dirty combat boots – one without laces and secured with electrical tape instead.

Her magnificent hair had fallen loose from her messy bun and tumbled down in thick, black, wet ropes, as trickles of water traced the elegant lines of her neck and disappeared into the enticing shadows of her cleavage. Her face displayed an adorable streak of grease smeared across a blushing cheek, and her disturbingly wet chest rose and fell unsteadily as steam hissed in her eyes from the fury of her prior exertions.

She had never looked so lovely. And she was ripe for kissing.

Han released the wrench and it fell with a thud. Whoa…where did that come from? Leia wasn't _sexy_ …was she?

_Down Boy! _

Well aware she was still observing him and, clueless about what to do with this newfound revelation, except maybe yank her close and capture her pert bottom lip with his teeth, Han snapped his gaping jaw shut and resorted to what he knew best – behaving like an A-Grade Smarmy Git.

He cocked a hip and rested one hand against the wall near her face, while the other mockingly lifted and brandished the end of one her limp tresses.

"Well, Your Royal Soggy-ness… you're looking well."

Leia rolled her eyes and wiped the moisture from her face with a small and filthy hand. She then neatly ducked under his arm to retrieve the dropped wrench before striding across to a large and suspiciously heavy looking toolbox and carelessly threw it in. Slamming the badly corroded lid shut and lifting it by the handle with both hands, she awkwardly shuffled to the doorway. From there she suddenly paused and turned back to him, and spoke despite her bedraggled appearance, with a charming poise.

"Thank you for your assistance, Captain."

Even though she resembled a drowned Womp rat, Han found it impossible to tear his eyes away or utter a single sound. Her dignified demeanor but unruly attire, splendidly highlighted the riddle of her steel like inner strength and enchanting sensuality. She was incredibly, unwittingly - captivating.

He found himself crossing the room and making a grab at the box before he could think twice.

"Since when do Princesses start plumbing for a living?"

A thin line of disconcertment appeared impatiently between her eyes.

"What?"

"Gimme that."

"No."

There was a short tussle over the handle of the toolbox and he came off second best. So he grasped her upper arm instead.

"Why didn't you get one of the maintenance guys to do that?" 

Her disconcertment now morphed to incredulous.

"Because, Captain, there _isn't_ any maintenance crew. The most of them were travelling on the transport that was reported overdue since the evacuation."

She bit her bottom lip, looking away in anxiety and he felt his stomach tighten.

_Krith_.

He let go of her arm in belated guilt.

"Oh."

_Smooth Solo. Real smooth. _

"Well, look - Chewie and I are pretty good at stuff like that. Until the transport turns up - _please let it turn up_ \- we could train a few volunteers – you know, just till you get back on your feet."

Leia's eyes flicked up to his and he felt his stomach tighten again, this time for a different reason. She was actually smiling. Not an out and out grin, but it a small and private one. Just for him.

"Thank you Captain. That would be most agreeable."

And with that artfully parting quip, she exited the room.

Most agreeable indeed.

And so began an inexplicable need to be the big macho man and do ridiculous, time and credit consuming things for Leia – just to get that smile back on her face and perhaps be rewarded with a perve and accidental touch now and then.

_Touching_ Leia. Now that was something he allowed himself to dwell upon only now and then, as the push-pull he felt towards this pint-sized princess became the embodiment of bittersweet.

_A princess and a guy like me_ …

Fighting with her was much more pleasurable and far less bother, he argued.

_Yeah right…_

Besides, he had to leave soon. There were other things he needed to do apart from playing _The Rebel Alliance Rascally Hero._ Like pay off Jabba and staying alive. Making move on Leia, even if she wanted him to, spelled disaster.

_Coward_

She wasn't some gaudy dancing girl who expected nothing but a wink and a "See ya" after. This was just the thrill of a bit of forbidden lust…wasn't it?

_Liar. _

All he had to do was ignore it and move on_. _But he didn't. He couldn't.

And now, here she was, well and truly snug and firm in his arms and it felt absolutely right and absolutely wonderful.

The fact that he had held Leia very closely only a few moments ago, meant zip. Then, he was merely comforting a terrified and damaged creature, with only one objective in mind - get her calm so he could get her to safety.

This scenario, however, was vastly different. As soon as she lay alongside him, Han knew that his blasted hormones were in trouble.

First of all, they were both terribly, very intimately, horizontal. Although they were crammed in an icy minefield that could tumble down on them any moment, their position automatically conjured up for Han images of sweaty beds, tangled sheets and… sliding bodies.

This intense shock of sharp arousal that roiled through him reminded him of the time when Leia unexpectedly visited him when he was working under that snow-speeder. She was so close he could inhale that subtle scent that followed her everywhere. Be hypnotized by her cheeky teasing and razor wit as they… flirted? That's what is felt like.

They were only a breath away from each other, as they lay side by side under the shadows of that speeder. Careful not to touch. But then Leia bit into the ration bar he was holding and her lips momentarily (intentionally? _Gods_) grazed the soft patch of skin bridging his thumb to his finger.

Han had never considered this area of his hand an erogenous zone before, but whenever he thought of those lush, full lips caressing it, along with the fact that the notoriously neurotic Leia had the spunk to do it in the first place, sizzling hot sparks radiated out and travelled instantly to … more obvious erogenous zones.

Right now, his entire body felt like that tiny patch of skin. It was throbbing with an age-old rhythm that refused to be ignored. It had been years since Han had felt this. Maybe never. Because holding Leia like this was the epitome of divine torture.

While multiple layers of insulating snow and waterproofing clothing were layered between them, he could still feel the temptation of every mouthwatering curve, every feminine dip. So he used the excuse of getting comfortably arranged, to perform a more thorough appraisal.

Hey, he was only human right?

Slowly and smoothly, running, instead of simply lifting, his hands around her waist. Wrapping and pressing, instead of placing a leg over hers. Shifting up and into the sacred hollows of that lovely, warm and yielding body. Pathetic, he freely admitted, but maybe this was his only chance.

When he felt the delightful pressure of her breasts pushed up and against the contrast of his hard and pounding torso, it was all he could do not to flip over her and … Gods, she was innocently driving him mad.

Han swallowed coarsely and frantically tried to take control of his thumping heart. They were as close as they both could possibly be without clothes on and while his body was singing that he was virtually embracing Leia, it was killing him knowing he didn't have further events to look forward to.

_Yep – serious trouble Buddy. _

He violently rolled his eyes into the back of his head and resisted sputtering with exasperation. For _crying out loud_ \- they were stuck in a hole and he was letting his rampant sex-drive hold them hostage. _Get a grip Solo!_ They still had a very unstable tunnel to negotiate with but all he wanted to do was roar like a Wookie with a bad case of battle rage.

Leia's small face was tucked up and into the underside of the sweep of his neck. Strands of her crisp and clean hair tickled his cheek. When he felt the brush of her mouth and a sigh of warm breath, the side of his face flared into a heated flush as the vibration of her words reverberated through the pulse point in his throat and shot directly to his groin.

"So… what happens now… Captain?"

Seven hells of Holy _Sith_. No way _that_ could have been kriffing innocent!

The salty snap of her tone and tang of the double entendre was too perfectly executed to be guile free. Han struggled gallantly to halt his restless, hungry hands from cupping her backside and automatically grind his aching hips into hers in primal reply. That wouldn't …well maybe it would on his behalf…go down well.

Maybe he should just crack and kiss her he contemplated? Nah, he wouldn't be disciplined enough to stop at one, she'd end up kneeing him somewhere real sensitive and real painful, the tunnel would probably collapse from his agonized convulsions and then they'd have zero chance of getting outta here. Not a good result.

So when in doubt – fire back.

"Any suggestions… Your Worship?"

He couldn't resist resting his lips against the shell of her ear as he whispered – deliberately delivering his response with just the right amount of Han husk and smoke.

_Let's see how you handle that Princess. _

Was that a tremble?

Err, no.

Good gods… she was actually laughing. Laughing! He could feel the small spasms of her muffled chuckles. How could this impossible hussy_ laugh _when he was feeling this way?

It was then that Han started to see the funny side too. After all, he mused, they were possibly seconds from demise, could barely move in this freezing, claustrophobic ice chamber, with half the base (which probably included by now, a furious Wookie, a parental figure and a love sick Luke) anxiously waiting at the other end for them to emerge - and all he wanted to do was get naked with The Last Princess of Alderaan.

Bubbles of laughter rose and let loose as he finally joined in. Together, they rocked slightly in the limited space as they submitted to the ludicrousness. Their mutual amusement died down to a few chortles but then another errant hiccup erupted from Leia and that set them off again.

And suddenly, today became the best day of Han's life.

When their giggles finally subsided, Han unfurled the fingers of a hand, tipping her chin up so he could look at her again.

Huge, midnight dark, doe eyes gazed back with unmitigated trust.

It was such a lovely, and very dear face.

He smiled gently.

"All right Honey. Let's get started."

**TBC …**

**If you think I should up the rating to M because Han has such an "unfiltered mind" please let me know.**


	8. Chapter 8

_Leia! _

Han lurched awake. Air, sucking harshly into his lungs. Wrenched from the recollection of a fathomless murky black.

A blinding sheet of light fell across his eyes and made them snap shut again as they instantly watered. His head spun as he groggily attempted to orientate his surroundings.

He was lying down. Noises swirling around him; Hurried footsteps...disembodied, echoing shouts. The insistent droning and sporadic beep of some sort of machinery.

Cold. Why was he so cold?

Amongst the confusion and dull throb of disconnection, something was wet and seeping. Han felt around and lifted a hand. With great effort he opened his eyes to painful slits and tried to focus. It was covered in a sticky, reddish brown substance.

Blood. Whose blood?

His mind grappled to make sense. But it was a churning jumble of thoughts and feelings. And then memory rushed back.

They were slipping, sliding, at times violently jerking their way through the tunnel. Both of them unapologetically anchoring one-another, moving as though one unit. Clasping with hands, arms and legs, as they were pulled through with an agonising, inching pace. At times he had to stop and dig or kick snow and ice to make way. Then he would gather her up again, enfolding her with his body and the oddly intimate trip through the tunnel would recommence.

"Not far now."

Leia's eyes never once blinked open. Her breath coming in short sharp pants as she lay curled on one side. Trembling.

"That's right Honey. Keep those eyes closed."

She was so scared and so brave.

"Come on - get a move on will ya boys!"

Hope flaring as the light began to gradually rise as they crept their way nearer and nearer the entrance.

A sudden shout from the mouth of the cave –

"It's shifting again! Hurry! "

No time to react.

A low rumble, a crack and a terrifying, cascade of snow tumbles down. The light starts to disappear.

Leia shrieking and burying herself closely against his chest, clutching him tightly as he quickly cupped a hand around the base of her head, tucking her face under his in scant protection. Holding her. Aching for her.

Another rumble. A second heavy blanket of ice falls. Their legs are pinned.

They were so close to getting out. So close.

_I'm sorry Leia. _

He closed his eyes the sudden swell anger by this injustice. Why? Why now? When she'd already endured so much and had emerged only stronger?

_So sorry. _

If he could just meld into her, he could shield her from everything. But the tunnel was collapsing. Greedily, steadily, swallowing them up.

A pause.

Silence. Darkness.

Their breaths moving in and out in unison within the pocket of air and space momentarily spared . Leia shuddered out another breath, but like the body that encased her soul, her voice was small and steady in the muffled and restricted space.

"Han?"

"I'm here Honey."

_I've always been here._

A small, snow covered hand moved from around his shoulder and pushed itself into the palm of his. Fingers elegantly splayed and entwined themselves, lacing their hands together. She raised herself slightly, trying to peer into his eyes despite the shadows surrounding them.

"Thank you."

Han let out a sigh that said everything mere words couldn't. But he had try -

"Leia darling - "

The rumbling began again. Ferocious in it's second onslaught.

Han breathed in. And pushed her back into the empty crevasse of his body. In these last few moments, before the avalanche entirely engulfed them and unconsciousness took over, he felt Leia's lips pressing gently against his throat. The whisper of a farewell kiss. A promise never fulfilled. Her scent, her softness. A moment of truth and beauty. If only … but it was a good way to die.

Then darkness was all he knew.

But… but now… he was out. Where was Leia?

_Leia! _

Han opened his mouth to scream her name but a hoarse cough immediately followed by pain was all that escaped.

Words hovering near by -

"Keep_ still_ Captain."

A hand pushing his shoulder down in authority and comfort.

An anguished, animalistic roar.

A terse order.

"Get that wookie out of here!"

_Leia! _

Han's snow bitten hands blindly reached out for her but only grasped at air. His agony rising as the warmth of her body rapidly became just another a hazy memory.

A strong force pulled him backwards and firmly drove his aching body down onto the table once again.

_Fight! _

Han bolted upright, arms viciously lashing out at his invisible foe. Surgical instruments went flying and clanged and skittered with protesting vibrations along a metal floor.

Words like; "Sedate him. NOW!"

Hands firmly wrapped around his triceps as this time he was unceremoniously thrust down. Some bastard was sitting on his knees as he futilely struggled to buck and scratch and claw.

A prick, the sting of a hypodermic and then the almost instantaneous drag of lethargy. Drowning. Drifting.

Robbed of his fight, Han let out soft wail.

_Leia … she was so scared_.

And he wasn't there to care for her. He wasn't…

Darkness enveloped him once again….

_…__Sweetheart._

* * *

**Thank you for your patience. A few more chapters to go but this story will be completed!**


	9. Chapter 9

Something was wrong. No. Not wrong… different.

Noises. Was it a roar? A rumble?

No that was before. This was a different noise. A lack of noise.

Quiet. A cavernous quiet. Just the sounds of breathing and a vague hum of strangers voices.

Her eyes too heavy to open, Leia stretched out her fingers. Smooth…softness. The absence of snow. No ice.

A yellow ball of light. Warm light. Radiating upon her face.

No longer in darkness.

Curious, she then raised her hand. Like her eyelids, it was also astonishingly heavy, but she shakily swept it upward and outwards. Unsure exactly why, she began instinctually searching, reaching. Again nothing. Just a hollow, empty void of nothingness.

The ache, the pain and the stiffness felt familiar but … what was it? Cold. She wasn't cold anymore, but oddly…bereft. That was when she knew.

_Han! _

Where was Han?

The comfort of a hard unyielding chest, strong safe arms and latent heat had vanished. She was alone.

_Han!_ _I want Han._

_Leia sobbed in silent sorrow._

Hazily comprehending that she was battling a medically induced stupor, she took in a sharp breath and tried to throw off the thickening effect. She had to think. She had to know.

_Why? Why was she alone? _

Why? When they had never been so close?

A flood of memory washed over her. Patches of pictures, sounds and heightened emotions. And Han. Always Han. He surrounded her.

He was formidable. Only as Han could be.

Aptly, ironically arrogant in the throws of danger. Carelessly tossing out his usual wise-cracks and innuendos, but always hurrying, hurrying while cautiously and tenderly guiding her through the never-ending horror of the tunnel while knowing, just knowing, as only Han could, how terrified she was and how to keep her from breaking.

Kicking and swearing sarcastically his way through obstructions -

_Krith! This heat drill is almost as useless as Golden Rod. Just how did you end up adopting that miserable droid anyway? _

Cajoling but never expecting a reply and never once letting her believe she was on her own. Reaching out and regularly patting the bottom of her boot –

_Not long now! I guess the name 'Ice Princess' takes on a whole new meaning huh? _

__At last, pulling her close into the immediately soothing comfort of his body and heat -

_C'mere Sweetheart… I need another hug. _

Wrapping his legs, arms and hands around her body. Protecting-

_Just hang on Princess. I've got you. _

They almost made it through. Bu then the shaking began and snow and ice fell, simultaneously submerging them both while forming their crypt.

It was then that Leia no longer felt any fear. She had always felt this way when confronted with death. In her short life she had endured this many times, so she knew she had only a small moment in which to prepare and make amends, to make peace with herself and those around her.

Sadly, like the times before, there was nothing she could do to say goodbye to her dear ones…not many left… except silently murmur the words of an old Alderaanian poem from a forgotten age.

_My soul sees yours. _

_And yours sees mine._

_The goddess smiles upon us, _

_I thank you. _

This part of her farewell completed, Leia then thought of Han.

He was gasping deeply. One hand cupped the back of her neck along the hairline, the other holding her body, almost possessively close to his. The shaking paused momentarily. This was her chance.

Words had never been easy between them. However, upholding her honor was never so important than at this instant, so Leia forced herself to lean up. She looked at the man who had over the past 3 years had been a mighty adversary, her tormenter and someone to turn to… a friend. A friend whose jeering laughter, demands for unmitigated, ugly honesty and lopsided grins pulled her back from the abyss of despair and made her feel stimulated, alive …and want live another day. Fight another day.

What could she do in these last few precious for him? The words came automatically and again were silent, but they sang with sweet purity nonetheless.

_My soul is yours… _

She could see his eyes now.

_And yours is mine…_

They were calm but sad,

_The goddess smiles upon us…_

and then Leia felt a flutter of the dawning of truth -

_I…._

_I could have loved this man... _

"Han?"

"I'm here."

Always here, pulling, pushing, distracting…caring. And it was too late.

"Thank you."

In the last seconds as the shaking resumed and before she knew nothing, Leia heard the word, "Darling" and was held back against wall of Han's body. Her lips immediately pressed against the smooth skin of his throat. A first and a last kiss. A goodbye.

Then there was nothing.

Yanking herself back into the present, Leia opened her mouth to call out but her throat was parched.

A hand wrapped around hers and patted with a hypnotic rhythm. There was a rush of immediate grief when Leia realized this hand wasn't Hans. It was too small to soft, and its touch was fatherly.

"Leia?"

And it wasn't Han's voice. Han's voice was deep and it thrummed – even when raised in anger…

"Leia. Leia - It's Carlist."

Leia opened her mouth again and rasped. But Han's name refused to be spoken.

"Its all right Leia. You're safe."

But it wasn't all right. She wasn't safe. Han was gone. She would never be safe again. Leia began to cry. But there were no tears. No sounds came out. It hurt. It hurt more than it had ever hurt before.

_Han…_

But Carlist's voice persisted.

"It's all right Leia. Just open your eyes…"

He whispered, coaxed…insisted…

" - open your eyes and you'll see its all right."

Leia swallowed. Although it hurt, she pierced her eyes open and blinked several times.

At first she saw white billowing. Her befuddled mind re-arranged the billowing into the stark hospital drapes that were surrounding her bed.

"Look here Princess… look over here"

Leia blearily turned her pounding head, the effort making her wince as she focused on the soft features of the person who was fast becoming the substitute for the father she most desperately missed and grieved for. But his face brought her no respite.

He smiled when their eyes met and he patted the hand he held one more time. Intuitively knowing she was too tired and dazed to speak, he reached over and caught the trail of a lone tear that had some how escaped, smoothing it away with a tending gesture Leia had never seen before.

Then, looking slightly embarrassed at this rare lapse in propriety, he released her hand, swiftly stood and reached over to gather up the side of the curtain that was falling behind him. Puzzled, Leia watched him glide it back soundlessly to reveal another bed, then step back a few paces and turn away in discretion.

There, reclining on one side and covered from the torso down with a soft blanket was the sleeping figure of Captain Solo.

He was alive. He was near.

Leia felt the air, pain and tension escape from her lungs the moment her eyes fell upon his shape. While fighting the pull of weariness and heaviness of eyes demanding to be shut again, she hungrily roved them over his form, performing her own assessment.

With his profile turned towards hers, and a swathe of brown hair flopping over his forehead, he looked exhausted, but his features held no pain.

Apart from a few dark bruises, the smooth and vast plains of the skin of his exposed and toned chest revealed a lack of injuries, as lungs rose and fell steadily, breathing deeply. A tube inserted into the vein of one hand trailed down the corded muscle of one arm, the clinical white of a bandage tightened around one shoulder. A deep cut, with a bacta patch covering the bridge of one eye, already looked like it was healing.

But he was more than that. In the dim glow of a table lamp, and in tranquil repose, Han's graceful, undeniable virility and vulnerability was on display for her alone.

Beautiful.

Leia's throat welled again. This time in relief. In joy. He was near. He was alive.

It was then that she noticed the huge and lanky length of Chewie, propped up against the wall just behind him. Also fast asleep and slumped awkwardly in a chair far too small for his comfort. His familiar bowcaster, oddly out of place and sitting defiantly on floor, within easy reach beside him.

Carlist allowed her a few more moments and then moved quietly to take her hand once again, careful not to move into the eye-line of Han's bed.

"You see Princess. Everything is all right. You can rest now."

Leia fought to not close her eyes. But the darkness beckoned once more.

Carlist squeezed her hand gently and whispered –

"Rest Princess.'

Leia blinked once, twice, her vision wavering,

"Rest now…. "

Her eyes shut and opened again.

One last look.

The dark feathery line of his lashes, the sharp, clean cut of his cheekbone and delicate upper curve of his lip…his hands. One casually draped across the dip of a lean hip. The other curled elegantly upon the incline of his pillow. Hands that soothed, hands that…hands…

Leia's eyes finally closed

And she rested.


End file.
